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LA Chargers mock draft: Bolts reinvent defense for Brandon Staley

By Jason Reed

MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 30: Defensive Lineman Quincy Roche #55 from Miami of the American Team during the 2021 Resse's Senior Bowl at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama on January 30, 2021 in Mobile, Alabama. The National Team defeated the American Team 27-24. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 30: Defensive Lineman Quincy Roche #55 from Miami of the American Team during the 2021 Resse's Senior Bowl at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama on January 30, 2021 in Mobile, Alabama. The National Team defeated the American Team 27-24. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) – LA Chargers
(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) – LA Chargers /

With the 13th overall pick, the LA Chargers select Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech

The debate about who the LA Chargers will take in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft should be about which offensive lineman the team will pick, not which skill position player that the Chargers should select.

I have taken a cornerback with the 13th overall pick in previous Chargers mock drafts and I am fine with that if there is a guarantee that the Chargers can get one of two guys with their next pick: Liam Eichenberg and Dillon Radunz.

I ran the mock draft machine three separate times just to test the waters and neither Eichenberg nor Radunz reached the Chargers at 47. In the mock draft that I took a corner at 13, I also traded back into the first to draft Eichenberg.

The choice here is really between Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw and USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker. Vera-Tucker is more versatile and does have the higher ceiling of the two prospects. However, he does not have great NFL size for tackle and knowing the Chargers and how they have operated in the past, they likely view him as a guard-only prospect despite having the ability to play tackle.

Thus, the team will go with the more traditional left tackle in Christian Darrisaw. It is not a sexy pick but it is the right pick to make to protect Justin Herbert’s blindside. The team has done a good job thus far in building the offensive line but they still do not have a tangible option to start at left tackle.

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